7.) Release The Harkless!
For most of the season, Portland couldn’t grasp consistency with their starting lineup. It seemed that all of Portland was waiting for Noah Vonleh to unleash his potential. He looks to be a great player, but this season more than anything showed that he is still a year or two away from being a high-caliber NBA starter.
Enter Maurice Harkless. Now a lot of fans were calling for Crabbe or Gerald Henderson to replace Al-Farouq Aminu in the starting lineup, due to Aminu’s consistency of low scoring games and foul trouble, instead Terry Stotts showed Portland that he’s the coach for a reason and we’re not.
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Showing signs of brilliance with quick dunks and great athleticism, going small with Harkless turned out to be the necessary change Portland needed going into the playoffs. His defense and quick cuts to the basket opened the floor for Aminu to get open and finally find his shot. Not only was Harkless important for this season, but the experience he has will be critical as Portland looks to make the next step towards becoming an elite team.
6.) The Future Is Now
After a successful individual series against the Grizzlies for C.J. McCollum, the guard from Lehigh had just as much pressure as Lillard to fill the scoring drought left by last years’ starters. Nobody could’ve thought that he could carry that momentum to start the season, let alone turn into one of the best scorers in the league.
McCollum started the season with a career high 37 point performance. With all eyes on Lillard and Anthony Davis to start the night, McCollum shot 6-9 from three and 14-22 overall on his way to embarrassing every defender that guarded him. For a player we needed to step up into a bigger role, he couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
Despite Portland getting off to a not-ideal start to the first few months of the season, this game was important because of what it did for McCollum’s confidence. From the reception of the crowd and the immediate respect he earned from his team and the NBA as a whole, McCollum’s first game as a starter paved the way towards the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. You can even argue that McCollum clinched the award that night.
Next: Moments 5 & 4